Street Trees of Los Angeles

Summary

For twenty-two years Los Angeles was without a sidewalk repair program. The result was a gradual deterioration of sidewalks and expenditures of approximately $2 million annually for trip and fall claims. Today, approximately 4,300 miles (6,920 km) of sidewalk are in need of replacement or repair. In Fiscal Year 2000/2001 the Los Angeles City Council provided the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services $8 million to develop a sidewalk repair program to provide safer and more accessible transit surfaces for pedestrians while maintaining a healthy, safe, and sustainable urban forest. After its third year the program has repaired 262 miles (421 km) of sidewalk preserving approximately 7,000 trees that would have otherwise been removed. This paper describes the program and some of the most promising strategies for preserving street trees while improving sidewalks.